The Pentagon has urged defence companies to rapidly increase the production and delivery of weapons, including munitions in short supply following the war with Iran. Deputy Defence Secretary Steve Feinberg gave US defence companies 21 days to submit plans to “drive significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production for critical capabilities”, according to a Defense Department memo cited by The Washington Post.
“Years-long development cycles are not acceptable,” Feinberg wrote. “We must dramatically accelerate our program schedules and expand our production capacity now.”
The memo is the latest move by the Pentagon and White House to address concerns over depleted US weapons stocks.
The weapons shortage has become a source of tension between President Donald Trump and the Defense Department, according to people familiar with the issue cited by The Washington Post.
Trump said on Thursday that the US had “massive amounts” of munitions. “Large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the US as needed,” he wrote on Truth Social.
But defence experts have warned that rebuilding US stocks could take time and may depend on Congress approving additional defence spending.
During the first month of the war with Iran, the US fired more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles and more than 1,000 Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors, according to The Washington Post.
The US also used more than 1,300 Army tactical ballistic missiles during the initial weeks of fighting.
An analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) found that the global inventory of Patriot missiles had fallen from about 2,200 before the war to fewer than 827 as of last week. The number of THAAD missiles had fallen from 452 to fewer than 278, according to the analysis.
Pentagon Seeks Faster Production
The Pentagon has already taken steps to increase weapons production. On Monday, the department announced a framework agreement with Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin to increase production of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) and THAAD missiles.
Last week, Lockheed Martin received a contract worth up to $58.6bn to triple production of PAC-3 missiles by 2030.
The Pentagon also announced framework agreements in May with defence technology companies including Anduril, Castelion, CoAspire, Leidos and Zone 5 to “aggressively expand” US military strike capabilities and purchase low-cost missiles.
In late June, the department hosted leaders from several Silicon Valley start-ups as it sought to increase the role of newer companies in rebuilding US weapons supplies.
The agreements are legal but non-binding arrangements that signal the Pentagon’s intention to buy weapons. They still require congressional funding before becoming final contracts.
“They are agreements to agree, and so they’re not contracts,” Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Washington Post. “Almost nothing has been contracted, and that’s the problem.”
Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said working with defence companies to accelerate production was not a new policy. “Working directly with industry leaders to accelerate production is not new. It has been the clear intent of the President and this Secretary from the start,” he said.
He confirmed that the Feinberg memo “is real” and said it “will inform the fiscal year 2028 budget submitted to Congress for funding”.
He added that the directive was “entirely consistent with our ongoing push to rebuild the defense industrial base”.
Trump Seeks More Funding
The White House has also sought to encourage the defence industry to push for increased military spending.
In late July, major defence contractors and Silicon Valley weapons companies were invited to the White House for a meeting with senior administration officials, including Mr Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and White House Legislative Affairs Director James Braid.
Companies including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Anduril and Palantir were represented at the meeting, according to people familiar with the event.
Executives were asked to directly lobby lawmakers to increase defence spending through congressional reconciliation, the sources said.
The Pentagon’s push comes as Hegseth seeks to overhaul the US military’s acquisition system and make it more responsive to wartime demands.
Speaking at the National War College in Washington in November, Hegseth said US industry needed to be given greater freedom to develop weapons and technology. “American industry and its innovative spirit are begging to be unleashed to solve our most complex and dangerous warfighting problems,” he said. “We need to get out of our own way, out of your way and enter into real partnership with you rather than overprescribe and decelerate your natural progress.”